And it is perhaps the most unusual Masters since its inception in 1934 at the course champion golfer Bobby Jones built in Augusta, Georgia (membership by invitation only). First and foremost, a November date, so viewers will see fall foliage versus blooming azaleas. No patrons, no Patron, no poltroons, no Par 3 tournament; and in one of the Masters’ great traditions, ceremonial first tee shots from golf legends Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. And of course, in a tradition like no other, no on-air witticisms from Gary McCord (fired by CBS 13 months ago, McCord described greens at Augusta being treated with bikini wax during a broadcast in 1994, and was banned by the Augusta National pooh-bahs from participating in a CBS Masters’ broadcast despite otherwise being a member of the CBS golf broadcast team.)
Perhaps fittingly, a most non-traditional golfer is favored to win the tournament. Bryson DeChambeau, the so-called golf “Scientist”, is the betting favorite at 8-1 odds to win a second major championship in a matter of weeks. Jon Rahm is a close second at 9-1. If you have money you would like to set ablaze, Tiger Woods odds are 30-1.
Some interesting facts:
-CBS is broadcasting the Masters for the 65th consecutive year.
-To accommodate CBS’s NFL coverage of Sunday’s games, coverage of the final round will begin at 10:00 AM and thus end at approximately 2:30 PM. CBS’s NFL coverage will begin with the 4:05 games.
-ESPN will broadcast its (quietest ever) College GameDay from Augusta National’s par 3 course on Saturday, November 14th.
-Players are invited from 23 countries.
-There are 18 defending champions competing in the tournament; 10 of the 18 are from foreign countries, and 11 of the 18 former winners are only qualified to be invited because they are former champions. (There are 19 methods to qualify for an invitation; Masters Tournament champions receive a lifetime exemption for the tournament.)
-Bernhard Langer will be the oldest competitor at the ripe old age of 63 years young. I will be surprised if he fails to make the cut.
AMDG
© R. E. Kelly 2012 -2020
Picture credits: licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Author: Pocketwiley
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